To all who come to this happy Round: welcome!

 They are the best of places. They are the worst of places. They are the realistion of dreams. They are the stuff of nightmares. They are really good. They are really not. They are theme parks, and I love them, so here's the theme-park-themed round I prepared for last night's zoom quiz. Oh, we shared some beautiful stories last night, we London Dungeon veterans... looking for cats, identifying pirates, trying to remember how many films from the nineties Gary Oldman had exploded in... Kevin had just got an article into "Film Stories", about seeing Bad Boys in the cinema when he was fourteen. Peter had got one in print!... We got drunk. It got late. It was great. Answers as ever will be posted in the comments.

 

 1. 

Here's Vice President Richard Nixon at the opening of the very first Disneyland in 1955. But which of the following attractions was the only one there from the beginning?

 a) The Jungle Cruise?

 b) The Pirates of the Caribbean?

 c) The Haunted Mansion?

 

 

2. Arrange these skins in chronological order, earliest to latest:

 

  

 a)

 

 

 b)

 

 

 c)

                                                                                                                               

 

 3.

 

  Which of the following phrases was NOT used to describe a rollercoaster before the invention of the word "rollercoaster"?

 a) Pretzel Ride?

 b) Hooligan Slide?

 c) Flip Flap Railway?

 4.

 

 Nicknamed the "Electric Eden", Luna Park opened on Coney Island in 1903. Which of the following attractions did it NOT boast?

 a) "A Trip to the Moon", in which patrons boarded an airship suspended from cables, and were taken to a cave where costumed "Selenites" would try to sell them green cheese.

 b) "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", in which patrons would board a submarine and experience a simulated trip to the North Pole, using refridgeration eqipment, and three miles of spooling canvas.

 c) "The Time Horse", in which couples enjoyed naughtily gripping onto each other, astride a fake horse on a steeplechase through recreations of Ancient Egypt, Jungle Temples, and Dinosaurs.

 

 

5.

 

 Still in Luna Park – I could have done a whole round on Luna Park, really – in this photo from 1906, you can just make out a sign boasting "INFANT INCUBATORS WITH LIVING INFANTS", but what did the building actually contain?

 a) Exactly what it says – a series of prematurely born babies in incubators?

 b) A funhouse of distorting mirrors?

 c) A variety show, very much of its time, with a cast of little people?

6. 

 

   Last question from Coney Island – these were all inspired by this jaw-dropping "Defunctland" video, by the way, which I highly recommend – What was most remarkable about the seven-storey brothel that burnt down in 1896 (not pictured)?

 a) It was New York's first fully electrified hotel?

 b) It was the shape of a giant elephant?

 c) It had a boat ride?

 

 

 7.

 

 Where is this? 

 a) Black Gang Chine on the Isle of Wight?

 b) Answers-in-Genesis' "Ark Encounter" in Kentucky?

 c) Ho Thuy Then in Viet Nam?

8.

 Action Park, New Jersey, another great "Defunctland" video about which you can find here: Throughout the 1980's and 90's, its founder Gene Mulivihill would test the safety of his attractions by offering employees a hundred dollars to get in and just see what happened. But which of the following did NOT happen at Action Park? 

 a) A ride involving an enclosed ball covered in casters, and large enough to hold one passenger, was pushed down a PVC track which had melted, missed its mark, left the park, rolled across the freeway and landed in a swamp?

 b) The Action Park wave pool, later nicknamed the "Grave Pool", saw fifteen employees have to be rescued from drowning because of the strength of its wave machine, only to then be hospitalised for consuming human waste?

 c) Employees trying out a "loop-the-loop" waterslide emerged with torn skin as a result of the the broken teeth of previous riders which had become embedded in it?

 

 

 9. 

 

 One of the attractions planned by Michael Eisner for the opening of Disney's California Adventure in 2001 was "Superstar Limo". Originally envisioned as a high-speed chase through Hollywood, pursued by the paparazzi, the final, deeply unpopular dark ride turned out to be a much more leisurely affair. Given that there were no safety issues, however, why had Disney decided to slow down the ride? (There are not a multiple choice answers for this one, but there is another excellent "Defunctland" video.)

10.

 

 And finally: The O and T of Disney's Florida attraction, EPCOT, stand for "Of Tomorrow"? But what do the E, P and C stand for? Points will also be awarded for silliness.

 

 (And here are the image sources for the banner, and for questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.)